Music Directors Chris and Melissa bring you four fantastic albums worth checking out this month! Click through for full reviews of new records from VV Brown, Mumford & Sons, Hot Chip and Charlotte Gainsbourg!

VV Brown
“Traveling Like the Light”
3 out of 5

Hailing from Northampton, England is VV Brown, a 26-year old singer whose promising debut brandishes the appeal of thinking man’s pop singers like M.I.A. and Estelle.
The album, “Traveling Like The Light”, debuted strongly in the UK last year and has recently taken on the stateside market. Among the flashy singles and modern production of her first batch of songs is a fundamental interest in retro R&B and pop.
Trained in jazz piano, and nurtured on classic soul and jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, Brown almost always keeps at least one foot entrenched in the “classic” side of her genre. However, her style retains a strong contemporary viability, with tracks like “Shark In the Water” and “Game Over” sounding like potential hits in 2010. The former has already been branded an “iTunes Free Single of the Week”, serving as an introduction to Brown for many listeners this past month.
Of course, having a record that sounds like a collection of singles is a double-edged sword. “Traveling” struggles to maintain any real flow and clearly stacks its “Side A” with its sharpest songs.
At any rate, Brown has made a promising opening statement to the pop world. In a best case scenario, she could find mainstream success in the footsteps of similar revivalists like Amy Winehouse and Adele. At worst, she can at least flaunt a significant amount of critical acclaim that’s ranged from the BBC to The Los Angeles Times.

Key Tracks: “Shark in the Water”, “Game Over”
-Chris Payne

Mumford & Sons
“Sigh No More”
4 out of 5

Marcus Mumford and the rest of this four man band aren’t related, but they are from London, and are putting a fresh spin on folk. Signed on Glassnote, the same label that led Phoenix’s mainstream breakthrough into the states this summer, Mumford & Sons have been taking England by storm since and are working their way over here via blogs and rave reviews.
Acoustic sets consist of a stand up bass, banjo, accordion and one guitar. Live, they play slightly more plugged in, abandoning their accordion for keyboards, but keeping their folk feel. Drawing inspiration from the Avett Brothers to Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes comparisons are abundant, as the latest accessible-folk breakthrough. Don’t be too quick to pigeonhole this band though. Every song builds beautifully and twists into gorgeous melodies and musical compositions.
The plucking banjo and scratchy-but-passionate vocals on standout tracks such as “Little Lion Man” are just the tip of this iceberg; the album demands to be played in it’s entirety. The key tracks don’t stop after “The Cave” either, if you’re digging it check out “White Blank Page” for a quieter, heartbroken ballad or “Winter Winds” for a more uplifting tone.

Key Tracks: “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave”
-Melissa Virzi

Hot Chip
“One Life Stand”
4.5 out of 5

English synthpop quintet Hot Chip have been receiving a substantial amount of praise since they came onto the indie scene in 2004. 2008’s Made In The Dark marked their greatest critical and commercial success to date, though their sparkling new record seems primed to trump both figures.
“One Life Stand” marks the ascension of Hot Chip from a good band to a great band. Brandishing a batch of new, dancefloor-ready jams, the moderately nerdy Lononders have mastered their craft and could even be on the precipice of mainstream success. The title track works as a serviceable lead single, but if you’re looking for the record’s true standout, “I Feel Better” is your song. After setting the mood with some disco strings and Daft Punk-style autotuned vocals, it vaults itself to the level of “addictive” with the introduction of a silky-smooth synth beat.
Elsewhere, the album flourishes when playing off the relationship of buildup and catharsis. Opener “Thieves in the Night” goes on for over six minutes, but establishes the perfect balance of introduction and dancefloor indulgence. At the album’s midsection lengthy tracks “Slush” and “Brothers” actually form a steady bridge into the record’s strong three-song closing, highlighted by “We Have Love”.

Key Tracks: “I Feel Better” and “Thieves in the Night”
-Chris Payne

Charlotte Gainsbourg
“IRM”
3 out of 5

Most commonly known as a french actress (Science of Sleep, Antichrist), Charlotte Gainsbourg is also a rather accomplished singer, despite having started both careers at the same time. Though it’s been three years since her last album, “5:55,” a lot has happened to Gainsbourg. What you probably don’t know is that she was in a water-skiing accident in 2007 that should have killed her, but was saved by emergency surgery. Feeling as if every day might be her last, Gainsbourg met Beck and the two collaborated fantastically to create this album.
With Beck doing the most of the writing, production and performing, all Gainsbourg had to do was contribute her beautiful harmonious vocals. With Beck at the controls, some consider this more of his work than hers, but Gainsbourg’s best is brought out with Beck’s often dark songwriting and production.
Their lead single “Heaven Can Wait” seems shockingly appropriate for Gainsbourg to sing, and is the only track Beck guest vocals on as well. The heavy beats and dark production work are haunting. On the rest of the alubm, Gainsbourg mixes genre’s and shows her vocal range is truly infinite.

Key Tracks “Heaven Can Wait” “IRM”
-Melissa Virzi